Content Not Satisfying Searcher Intent

People visit your website to find information search results have led them to believe your pages contain. Serving them content riddled with sales language, lacking in-depth information, or is boring to read will cause searchers to leave your site. Sentences stuffed with search engine optimization keywords won’t address user concerns either — and may trigger a Google algorithm penalty.

Focus on the Searcher: Write for searcher intent with useful information that doesn’t ‘hide the ball’ with a sales pitch or sign-up requirement. People will stay on your site longer and share your info, which will increase your traffic and opportunities to convert.

Poor Website Navigation

If visitors can’t find the information they want on your site, they’re going to look elsewhere. Poor navigation and page layout can easily confuse people, leading them to bounce away. You want a clean page layout that presents your content front and center. Don’t require searchers to click through multiple pages to get information. Cut the excess in the interest of a streamlined user experience.

Enable Breadcrumbs: Getting lost in the depths of a massive website causes users to flee your site for landing pages with easier navigation. Install a breadcrumbs plugin to give visitors a clear path back to where they started.

Slow Load Times

Sluggish website speed can kill both the time users spend on site and your search rankings. People won’t wait more than a couple of seconds for your page to load. Even those that hang around will have diminished trust and attention. Your page needs to load in an instant, or searchers will probably think there’s something wrong with your domain.

Optimize Your Website: Check out how fast your website loads by running it through Google’s PageSpeed Insights. Fix the problems that appear in red, which usually amount to leveraging browser caching and cutting down on the render blocking JavaScript.

Pop-Ups Blocking Content Access

Searchers today won’t put up with heavy-handed conversion tactics and will leave your site for one that doesn’t demand personal information. Want people to sign up for your mailing list? There’s a better way to ask than by blocking content access until they give you an email address.

Get rid of those forms flying in from the edges of your page offering a “chat live” service, as they just attract spam bots trying to sell you “guaranteed” marketing strategies. Any legitimate lead that clicks on a chat service has more steps to go through to access your content or service. Reduce the barriers to entry for better interaction and lower bounce rates.

Utilize a Strong Call to Action: Converting searchers into fans means giving them compelling content that addresses their needs, and asking them to join your community to get more of it. Install a contact form where searchers can join to get more of your stuff.

Lack of Mobile Friendly Design

Ignoring people accessing the web through mobile devices shuts the door on 30 percent of potential search traffic to your website. A website not optimized for mobile search can have images that block content, forms that don’t function, and a poor user experience searchers won’t tolerate. People don’t think it’s a good idea for your site to work well on mobile anymore — they expect it. Blame your exploding bounce rate on your site’s shaky mobile version.

Code for Responsive Design: Responsive design shrinks your website to fit the user’s viewing screen, whether it’s a desktop, tablet, or phone. This is the best way to make sure your site stays consistent in its content delivery and appearance.

Too Many Converting Elements

A cluttered web page with multiple contact forms and flashy selling points turns your site into the Internet version of a swap meet. All that glitz and in-your-face buzz phrasing turns modern searchers off in a hurry. Trust your content and products to give visitors what they want, without beating them to death with your branding messages. They get it.

Streamline Your Forms: One contact form to rule them all. Feature it prominently on the right or left side of the screen, away from site content. Include a call to action at the form’s top, detailing what users can get for converting — free case review, 20 percent off your order — in one line of text.

Ancient Website Design

Appearance plays an important role in how searchers choose to interact with your site. A website that looks like it came from 1995 throws up red flags in the minds of today’s Internet users. They think your site probably wants to steal their credit card info, or at the very least, send malware to their computers. The result is a fast bounce in search of a better looking domain.

Re-Skin Your Website: You may be able to update the look of your website in a few clicks, depending on your content management system. Check out these free WordPress themes and revamp your site’s image before it’s too late.

Auto Playing Video and Audio

Ever open a web page that starts blaring loud music from an unidentifiable source immediately upon loading? You probably clicked away from that page right away. So will visitors to your site, if you force unwanted audio or video on them without asking. There’s nothing wrong with presenting videos or music, but give your visitors a choice in accessing it. They’ll stick around longer and dig deeper into what your site has to offer.

Create a Dedicated Video Section: Add a page where visitors can watch your videos. Host the video on YouTube or Vimeo and embed the footage into the page. Doing so helps with load times and viewability.

User experience is the most important element in effective website design. If you give them what they want, visitors will do more than read your blog posts — they’ll turn into an entire community of cheerleaders, fans, and supporters.

About Conversion Voodoo

Our online optimization methodologies aren't based on theory. We've been in the trenches like you, creating and running online marketing campaigns for our clients for over 10 years.

Since the beginning, our clients' profits have gone through the roof -- accounting for more than 100 million dollars in sales.
Also visit our sister company for CEO Coaching and Consulting CEO VoodooContact us